Ben Simmons was seemingly primed to make a long-awaited season debut, but his arrival in Brooklyn has been put off once again.
Brooklyn Nets guard/forward Ben Simmons officially had surgery to alleviate pain in his back caused by a herniated disc, the team announced Thursday.
Simmons the microdiscectomy — which is a surgery where a small fragment of the disc is removed — at Cedars-Sinai Marina Del Rey Hospital in Los Angeles. Simmons will have approximately three weeks of an “initial recovery” period and will then begin a rehabilitation program. Per the team, he is expected to make a full recovery and be ready for training camp.
Ben Simmons medical update. pic.twitter.com/KXENQjZIg1
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) May 4, 2022
Simmons last played a game on June 20, 2021. He missed this entire season — some with Philadelphia before being traded to the Nets in the move that sent James Harden to the 76ers — for a variety of reasons, including mental health concerns before the trade and then what were originally called back spasms after the trade.
The hope is the surgery will allow Simmons to get back on the court, play without pain and become another key piece of a title-contending group led by Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving that Brooklyn envisions. Working through the mental issues that Simmons is dealing with, Nets coach Steve Nash said toward the end of Brooklyn’s season, will remain a top priority for the team as well going forward.
“There is a mental component with everything,” Nash said late last month. “I think Ben has addressed that there is a mental component with what he’s going through. But how much and where he’s at with that is not for me to speak about. But as far as an organization, we’re really pushing to support Ben in any way we can to help him improve physically and get back on the court.”
Ben Simmons post-surgery update ✌️ pic.twitter.com/oBasYq97mX
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 5, 2022
This was the second full season that Simmons has missed in the past six years. He was picked No. 1 in the 2016 NBA draft but didn’t debut that season because of foot issues. He was rookie of the year in the following season, 2017-18, and was picked for the NBA All-Star games in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Simmons has three years and nearly $114 million remaining on his contract.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
